UPS to pay $25M to settle allegations over delivery times
WASHINGTON — UPS has agreed to pay $25 million to settle some allegations that it submitted false claims to the U.S. government in an attempt to hide late deliveries, according court documents unsealed on Tuesday and released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
United Parcel Service Inc, known as UPS, allegedly covered up reports that it was late to deliver packages, keeping customers from being eligible for refunds, according to the documents.
A former employee of UPS, Robert Fulk, was a whistleblower in the suit who alleged UPS knowingly recorded inaccurate delivery times from 2004 to 2014 on packages guaranteed for next-day delivery, the department said. UPS also wrote down codes such as “security delay” and “customer not in” that were false, it added.
The federal government as well as nineteen states, the District of Columbia and the cities of Chicago and New York were also plaintiffs in the suit.
The $25 million payment from UPS covers its settlement with the federal government and the state of New Jersey. Litigation continues between UPS and the remaining states and cities, according to the law firm of Wu, Grohovsky and Whipple, which represented Fulk. (Reporting by Julia Edwards; Editing by Susan Heavey)
